97 T-100

i have a 97 T-100 with a manual tranny and it has gotten really hard to shift into 1st gear. it has been a slowly progressing problem and has recently gotten much, much worse. the other gears are easier to shift into, but are not as smooth as they should be. the truck has about 130,000 miles on it and has never had a new clutch( as far as i know). is it the clutch? are all newer toyota clutches the same, or is the T-100 special? i'm in mexico and might have a hard time if it's different. thanks a lot for the help.

chris_t100

Before buying a new clutch, check and see if your clutch pedal bracket is broke. This is very common on the T100's.

fratt97t100

I just went thru the same thing. Eventually I could not shift at all. Turned out the clutch pressure plate (spring plate?) had grenaded. Had to do a complete clutch job. Although my clutch pedal bracket was cracked as well, I am not sure if this had any impact on the pressure plated going out??? Good luck,

banshee hauler

Clutch pedal bracket!!!! Ha ha!! I had to have that fixed along time ago. Toyota put a beefier one in there. I had to put in a new clutch somewhere before 100,000 miles too, that sure cost a lot for labor.

BigYotaLuvr

I bought my 97 T last October knowing it needed a clutch. Got excellent price of $315.00 delivered from Partsbin.com and put it in myself with the help of a couple of teens from my youth group. A bear of a job but a good way to get to know your truck and save a few bucks (if you have a friend with a lift like I do) Install time was 15 minutes... plus the eight hours to get at it and put it all back together again! (That's why the Stealership gets so much for labor, Banshee)

I have 14k on the clutch job but shifting became impossible and this time it was the clutch bracket which had been welded before. I really razzed the parts guy about this not being a recall

The bracket isn't a bad job but I'm a big guy at 265# so it was real tight quarters. The new 'beefed up' bracket solved the shifting problem and got rid of that horrible squeak. Do the bracket first and if you still have problems give Partsbin.com a shout. Good Luck !
WFM